


The Lost Prince

by graytheglowinggay



Category: Hamilton - Miranda
Genre: Alternate Universe- Fantasy, Everyone Is Gay, Jefferson is the prince in case you haven't figured that out yet, M/M, Madison Third Person POV, Madison has Anxiety, Madison has Asthma, Madison is training to be a knight, Multi, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Thomas Jefferson/James Madison is going to be a slow burn sorry, and maria is their handmaiden, pretty much every other relationship is background, the Schuyler sisters are noblewomen, the revolutionary set are too
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-22
Updated: 2016-11-27
Packaged: 2018-09-01 10:19:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,217
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8620705
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/graytheglowinggay/pseuds/graytheglowinggay
Summary: The crown prince of the Kingdom of Virginia has been missing for almost two years, and everyone presumes him to be dead. Everyone, that is, except for James Madison.The sole heir of his family, Madison has been training to become a warrior under the command of General George Washington, along with his fellow soldiers, Hamilton, Laurens, Mulligan and Lafayette. His life has become a new, steady normal. But when the king falls mysteriously ill, and the younger prince is plotting his rise to the top, Madison knows that now is the time for him to act.Madison must bring back Thomas Jefferson, or the whole kingdom will crumble.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> A little context: in this world, being gay isn't a super big deal, but it's seen as being inferior to heterosexual relationships. Like, it's fine to be in a relationship with someone of your same gender when you're young, but eventually you're expected to settle down and start a family. Also, it's super taboo for a married person to be in a gay relationship on the side.

Madison woke up in the barracks feeling unusually well-rested, considering the training that he had gone through the previous day. Once he sat up in bed, he felt the bruises all along his arms and torso begin to throb again.  _ That’s more like it _ , he thought. He made a mental note to himself to not take on Mulligan one-on-one until he had significantly improved at defending himself. He allowed himself a few more self-indulgent moments in bed before he finally got up out of his cot. 

He looked around the barracks and saw that Mulligan and Lafayette were still sleeping, but Laurens and Hamilton were gone. They were probably doing extra training with Washington, as the two of them were also specializing in strategy. Madison’s group of soldiers was fairly small-- four other men, not including himself-- but that was to be expected. Their commanding officer, General Washington, ran a tight ship, and within the first week under his command, the majority of their class either washed out or quit. 

The other four men in his squadron were Lafayette, a low-ranking noble from a faraway land who came to take his chances at glory in Virginia rather than staying home, Mulligan, a former tailor with the physique of a mountain and the personality to match, Laurens, a friendly man with a mess of freckles who hailed from a rich family in South Carolina, and Hamilton, a feisty orphan and immigrant with a big mouth and a cutting wit.

Compared to the others, Madison wasn’t much. Due to a childhood filled with sickness, he never grew to be very strong, and he was quite short compared to his compatriots. The only reason why Washington picked him to train was because he said that Madison had “potential”, which Madison doubted. Washington probably just took him in because he was his family’s sole living heir, and he had to do  _ something _ to maintain his family name.

Madison walked over to look out the window at the bell tower that was in the center of their training camp, and saw that it was already 6:00 in the morning, which meant that the five of them would have to report to the mess hall within a half hour. Madison walked back over to Lafayette and Mulligan’s cots (which were directly adjacent to each other), and yelled, “Hey you two! It’s 6:00!”

Mulligan and Lafayette both groaned and rolled out of bed.

“Remind me why we have to wake up at this ungodly hour?” Lafayette asked, his accent thick, like it usually was when he first woke up. Despite his best efforts to learn English, his French accent was persistent, and it only got worse when he was tired or emotional.

“To eat, remember?” Mulligan replied, already pulling on a simple tunic and pants.

“Lafayette, the longer you wait around, the worse it’s going to be.” Madison said, starting to get dressed too.

“Fine then.” Lafayette grumpily replied. “Where are Hamilton and Laurens?”

“I don’t know. They were gone when I woke up.” Madison replied.

“They’re probably either with Washington already or they’re in the aides’ room fucking again.” Mulligan answered.

Laurens and Hamilton had been lovers for a very long time, as far as Madison knew. One thing that was a fairly recent development, however, was that the two of them were open about it. For a while, they had always lied or tried to change the subject whenever someone would ask one of them about why they always spent so much time together, or why they would sometimes hear moans and shaking coming from the aides’ office where they were supposed to be working. Despite Hamilton and Laurens’s best efforts to cover up their relationship, no one was surprised when they started telling people that they were together.

“Either way, we gotta find those two morons before someone else does.” Lafayette said, pulling on his shoes.

“Agreed.” Madison replied, walking over to the door. He walked out into the hallway, with Lafayette and Mulligan following him. The three of them walked over to the aides’ room, and just as Madison was just about to knock on the door, he heard a low moan originate from within the room.

“Do we risk it?” Lafayette asked from behind Madison.

“Better us than someone else.” Mulligan replied. “Open the door.”

Madison shrugged, and took hold of the doorknob. As Hamilton and Laurens had yet again forgotten to lock the door, the door swung inward easily, and the three of them interrupted an intimate scene.

Laurens and Hamilton were laying down on a table, Laurens on top of Hamilton. They both were shirtless, and Hamilton’s pants were halfway down his legs. Laurens was raining kisses on Hamilton’s neck and collarbones, which were already showing the marks of a few love-bites. Hamilton was tightly gripping his lover’s ass with both hands, and there was a look of pure ecstasy on his face.

Still apparently not noticing that they weren’t alone, Hamilton loudly moaned as Laurens roughly kissed his jaw right where it joined his neck.

Mulligan loudly cleared his throat, and the two lovers looked at the trio who had intruded on their lovemaking session. Laurens awkwardly disentangled himself from Hamilton, blushing bright red. Hamilton quickly pulled up his pants and fumbled around for his shirt.

“What are you three doing here?” Laurens demanded, quickly pulling his tunic over his head.

“It’s almost 6:00. We need to report to the mess hall soon.” Madison replied, completely unfazed by what he had witnessed.

“Well, we were in the middle of something, so screw that.” Hamilton aggressively replied, still sitting on the table, his arms crossed over his chest in a defiant gesture.

“Alexander, we gotta eat. I’m not gonna let you stay here.” Laurens said, sweeping his lover into his arms and picking him up off of the table.

“Well, if you’re the one who’s forcing me, I guess that it’s not as bad.” Hamilton replied, trying not to hide a smile.

“Well, let’s get going.” Lafayette said, walking out of the office and back into the hallway.

* * *

 

“Could they make the food here any less appetizing?” Lafayette asked, inspecting a forkful of jelly-like gray porridge.

“They probably do it so we don’t try to steal more.” Mulligan replied, struggling to bite through a piece of ham.

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d say that this was paste.” Madison commented after taking a bite of the porridge. He struggled to hold back a gag.

“Say what you will about the taste,” Hamilton remarked, gesturing with his fork. “But at least we have food.”

“Alexander’s right. On the field we won’t be so lucky.” Laurens added, his arm wrapped around Hamilton’s. He rested his head on his lover’s shoulder, which caused the other man to smile.

“Are you two ever not touching?” Mulligan asked. 

In response, the two of them only snuggled closer. Laurens kissed Hamilton’s cheek and ran a hand through the smaller man’s long brown hair. Laurens moved his legs onto Hamilton’s lap, but just as the two of them were about to move in for a kiss, Washington arrived at their table, which caused the two men to leap apart as though struck by lightning. In seeing this reaction to his presence, Washington closed his eyes and shook his head in exasperation, contemplating the decisions that he had made that led to this moment.

“Are you five done with breakfast yet?” Washington asked.

“Yes, sir!” they all replied, in unison.

“At ease, men. Lafayette, I can see that you still have bread on your plate. Same with you, Madison. Laurens, Hamilton, I don’t know what to say to you, but you all need to finish eating. We won’t go out and start training until I see that all of you have eaten everything that’s on your plates. Eating enough is an essential part of making sure that you’re prepared to learn and hone your skills.” Washington stated.

“Yes, sir!” they all again replied, and quickly resumed eating.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "One year. Nine months. Fifteen days. That was how long Crown Prince Thomas Jefferson had been missing."
> 
> "Madison hadn’t lost hope, though. One part of him, deep down inside, still believed that the prince would return. It was a foolish, irrational part of him, but it was still there, alive and well. And sometimes, that irrational hope would fill his whole body, like a phoenix rising from the ashes, and that hope would carry through difficult times."

“Why are we going to the library? We’re warriors, not scribes!” Mulligan complained as Washington led their group to the library.

“I want my soldiers to be knowledgeable about a variety of things, not just combat.” Washington replied, unfazed. “Besides, we did sparing yesterday.”

“I, personally, look forward to this experience. It’s always good to try new things.” Laurens added, holding Hamilton’s hand.

“Are you wanting us to learn about anything specific while we’re here?” Hamilton asked as they walked into the library building.

“I want you to research on anything that you can write a page-long essay on. They’ll be due by suppertime. We’ll have a break for lunch at high noon. Good luck to you all.” Washington replied, chuckling at his cadets’ shocked expressions.

“What will you be doing during that time?” Lafayette asked in disbelief.

“Me? I’m gonna get some light reading done.” Washington replied nonchalantly, pulling a romance novel out of his bag and sitting down at one of the library tables.

“What the hell can I write a page-long essay on?” Mulligan exclaimed as the five of them sat down at a table in the middle of the library.

“Something that _you_ can write one on? I’m trying to figure out what _I_ should do!” Lafayette replied indignantly, angrily searching for a quill and ink to use.

Hamilton leaned back in his chair, a smug look on his face. “You guys can keep worrying about your essays, but I know _exactly_ what I’m writing about.”

“No love poetry, Hamilton!” Washington yelled from his chair.

“ _Dammit,_ ” Hamilton said. “There goes my one idea.”

Madison chuckled at this remark. Hamilton played a pretty good love-struck fool, Madison had to admit. However, Madison was certain that an effusive verse about Laurens wasn’t the only idea that the clever immigrant had up his sleeve. He had read Hamilton’s writing before. The man truly was skilled with the quill.

The other four men at the table quickly devolved into desperate bickering about what the hell they were going to write their one-page essay on, but Madison didn’t let himself be distracted by their argument. He already had a plan.

One year. Nine months. Fifteen days. That was how long Crown Prince Thomas Jefferson had been missing. Overnight, the young and charismatic ruler-to-be had disappeared. Some people suspected that he had simply ran away for a bit, that the weight of the crown was too much for him to bear at such a young age, and that he had left in order to clear his head. When he didn’t show up again after a week, that was when the townsfolk began to panic. There had already been a search party sent out as soon as they hadn’t found him in his bed, but now more people were sent out. Theories of him being kidnapped by various parties made their way to pubs and brothels around the kingdom; that he had been kidnapped by New Yorkers, or Pennsylvanians, or possibly by some rogue band or another who were holding him for ransom. Weeks passed, and then months, and chances of Prince Thomas’s safe return dwindled to almost nothing. Search parties again and again returned empty-handed. There was a funeral held for him, and all of Richmond mourned; indeed, all of Virginia mourned the loss of a man who could have been their future king.

Madison hadn’t lost hope, though. One part of him, deep down inside, still believed that the prince would return. It was a foolish, irrational part of him, but it was still there, alive and well. And sometimes, that irrational hope would fill his whole body, like a phoenix rising from the ashes, and that hope would carry through difficult times. When he had found out that he was going to be learning to fight (and maybe, someday, become a knight) from General Washington, one of his first thoughts was that he might be able to rescue the lost prince. He channeled that hope, that goal, into a piece of writing. Once he had finished, he had filled his entire page.

 _Someday, our prince will return. I have faith. It may be a foolish belief, but it is there, always burning within my breast, and this fire kindles my warrior spirit. The hope of our prince’s homecoming is what pushes me, what drives me to become all that I can and more. I do not have the body of a fighter. I am not aggressive by nature. If there is another way that I can take that does not bring harm to my fellow man, I will gladly take it. But given a situation where there is no kind solution, the only reason why I do not cower in fear is this fire. I can look Death in his cold eyes and still stand strong, because I know that I am fighting for_ someone _, for_ something _. The prince is my someone, my something. The ruthless firebrand of vengeance may power many great men, and the fickle flame of love in others, but hope is the lantern that guides my footsteps. The little bird that sings the song without the words saves me from darkness and keeps me strong._

Madison set down his quill and looked over his work, fixing any small errors that he saw. He glanced over at his fellow cadets and saw them struggling. Mulligan was tightly gripping a quill in his fist, a look of frustration on his face. Laurens looked like he had given up on being able to write anything, and so he was doodling turtles on a scrap of parchment with a stick of graphite. Hamilton was pacing back and forth, muttering to himself as he walked. Lafayette was staring blankly ahead, a book open on the table in front of him. Feeling satisfied, Madison got up and stretched, and went over to find a book to read.

Madison had spent most of his childhood in his family library. Sunny or rainy, sick or well, if someone was looking to find Madison, there was a good chance that they would find him somewhere in the house reading. Madison’s father somewhat disapproved of this hobby, as he believed that Madison’s reading distracted from more proper activities for a boy of his age, such as horse-riding or hunting. Young Madison didn’t care for violence, and got his fill of adventure in the tales of knights and monsters in the novels that he read.

When several of his brothers died in various accidents, more and more pressure was put on Madison to become stronger. Unfortunately, this stress only made Madison’s physical health deteriorate even more. Many times, Madison was close to death with an infection in his lungs. Madison still didn’t know how he survived. The infection had died down with fresh air and bed rest, but he still had a lingering cough that stuck around. Sometimes, if he did too much vigorous activity, he would suddenly feel short of breath, and he would spend several minutes wheezing and coughing. Despite this setback, Madison felt that he was doing fairly well in his training. He wasn’t as strong as Mulligan, or as clever as Hamilton, or as kind as Laurens, or as charming as Lafayette, but he was good enough, and sometimes that was all that was necessary.

Just as Madison had found a novel that was to his satisfaction, he heard Washington yell: “Time for lunch!”, so he had to leave the book behind and join his compatriots in the mess hall for lunch.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading this! I love writing this from Madison's POV, as he isn't as involved in many of the shenanigans that his other squad-mates engage in. Madison is my precious son and I will defend him at all costs.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lafayette and Mulligan both have crushes on each other, but neither will admit it. Plus: the other four read Madison's essay, and things happen. (I'm not good at summaries)

“Am I the only one who has absolutely no idea what to do for this?” Mulligan asked, taking a large bite of a boiled potato.

“You are not alone,  _ mon ami _ .” Lafayette replied, putting an arm around Mulligan’s broad shoulders. When Lafayette did this, Madison noticed Mulligan visibly blush. Was there more going on between those two than Madison knew?

“There is no way that I’m gonna be able to finish this in time.” Laurens said, running both of his hands through his long curls.

“I have faith in you, Jack.” Hamilton replied, and kissed his lover’s cheek. Laurens softly cupped Hamilton’s cheek, and then pulled him into a passionate kiss. The two of them made out rather loudly for several long minutes before they reluctantly broke apart.

“You’re adorable.” Laurens said as Hamilton rested his head on his lover’s shoulder.

“Don’t call me adorable.” Hamilton muttered, which prompted a laugh and a kiss on the forehead from Laurens.

“Eat.” Laurens said, shoving a piece of bread at Hamilton’s face.

“I’m not hungry.” he mumbled.

“I don’t care,” Laurens replied. “You’re going to eat some lunch whether you like it or not. As a person who is  _ very _ familiar with your body, I can very confidently tell that you haven’t been eating enough food lately. Now eat this piece of bread or I’m going to force it down your throat.”

“And I love you too.” Hamilton snarkily replied, but reluctantly began to nibble on the hard bread.

“Have any of you guys gotten  _ anything _ done in the past five hours?” Madison asked.

“That is a very good question,” Lafayette replied. “You know what’s another good question? How much work have  _ you _ gotten done?”

“You’re avoiding the question, Lafayette. Have you written anything?”

“Of course he’s avoiding it. He spent the entire morning shooting Mulligan sex eyes.” Laurens chided, which caused the Frenchman to blush.

“I was not!” Lafayette exclaimed.

“Yes, you were!” Hamilton chided. “Oi, Mulligan! What do you think of the Marquis’s affections?”

Mulligan was deliberately avoiding eye contact with Lafayette, instead focusing all of his attentions on his tankard of ale.

“You know what, Lafayette? I have a feeling that Mulligan keeps you pretty  _ hard _ at work, if you know what I mean.” Laurens teased.

“You two are too much sometimes.” Lafayette said, still blushing.

“Just make out already, you two.” Madison muttered to himself.

“What did you say?” Mulligan asked.

“Nothing.” Madison quickly replied, and finished off his ale. “We need to get back to the library, or Washington is going to come after us all.”

“Let’s go then,” Laurens said, standing up from the table. “What are we waiting for?”

“But I’m not done with my ale!” Mulligan complained.

“Sucks for you!” Hamilton yelled, and raced out the door. Mulligan quickly downed the remainder of his drink, and bolted after him.

“We gotta make sure that those two don’t fight each other.” Madison said, and Laurens and Lafayette both nodded in agreement.

When the other three men had arrived outside of the mess hall, they saw that Mulligan and Hamilton were gone.

“You guys stay here to see if they’ll come back. I’ll go on ahead.” Madison stated, and then walked to the library. As he entered, he overheard a conversation between Hamilton and Mulligan.

“Just be honest with him, Mulligan.” Hamilton said to his fellow cadet.

“But what if he doesn’t feel the same way?” Mulligan asked.

“You saw just as well as I did the way that Lafayette was acting at lunch. Take a risk! You’ll never know for sure until you try.” Hamilton replied, putting a hand on the other man’s shoulder.

“Thanks, Hamilton.” Mulligan said.

“No problem, Mulligan. Besides, I love to share my romantic advice. As you can see, I’ve been fairly successful.” Hamilton bragged.

Madison was hiding behind a pillar as he heard this, and as soon as it seemed that their sensitive conversation was done, he stepped into plain sight.

“Why hello, Madison,” Mulligan said, turning around to see him. “How long have you been here?”

“I just got here, don’t worry.” Madison lied. They didn’t need to know what he had heard. “Laurens and Lafayette should be arriving shortly.”

As soon as Madison mentioned the Marquis, he noticed Mulligan shift in his chair, and shoot a glance at Hamilton. Hamilton shrugged in response. There was an awkward pause. After a few moments with no words exchanged, Madison saw Laurens and Lafayette approach the library.

“Here they come!” Hamilton said, clearly only saying something to try to break the silence, as all three of them were able to see Laurens and Lafayette enter. Hamilton sat up and ran towards Laurens, embracing his lover in a fierce hug. Laurens smiled and picked the other man up, spinning the two of them around as they laughed.

Madison chuckled as he watched the two of them joyfully reunited, even if they had only been apart for no longer than ten minutes. He watched them with amusement, but he also felt a pang of something deep in his gut. Was it guilt? Jealousy? He was happy for his friends, of course, but there was part of him that was constantly thinking about the odd number of men in their squadron. That usually didn’t get to him the way that it was now, but that was before what he had overheard between Hamilton and Mulligan. Laurens and Hamilton were always a couple, that was a constant. But if what he suspected was true, and Mulligan and Lafayette harbored feelings for each other, than what did that make him? The fifth wheel? Romance had never loomed large on Madison’s mind, as he was usually more focused on his studies or simply trying not to die of sickness. Even though Madison’s health had improved and he had finished his formal education, he still didn’t put very much thought into a future partner or spouse. Was that a mistake? He didn’t really even know if he would prefer a relationship with a man or a woman. When it came down to it, supposed that he was open to either. It just depended on what the future held for him.

“Hey Madison! For someone who was hounding us all about ‘doing our work’, you’ve just been standing there for quite a while.” Hamilton yelled from across the room, which earned a shush from the librarian.

“I’m already done.” Madison replied, but as soon as he said it, he knew that it was a mistake.

“Then can we read it?” Lafayette asked.

“No! I mean, please don’t.” he frantically replied.

“Let’s read it!” Mulligan exclaimed, which caused them to be shushed yet again.

“Oh no!” Madison said, but he was too late.

Mulligan read the essay out loud dramatically, much to Madison’s annoyance, and when he was finished, the four men looked at him with faces that ranged from surprise to gleeful enjoyment.

“You had a crush on the prince, didn’t you?” Laurens teased, nudging Madison’s shoulder.

“Did not!” Madison indignantly replied, but as he said it, he wasn’t sure if it was a lie or not.

“So, do you really believe that the prince isn’t dead?” Hamilton asked, and it appeared from his tone of voice that it was a genuine inquiry.

“I thought that you read my essay?” Madison replied.

“I did, but I’m wondering if you actually believe that, or if you just made it up to impress Washington.” Hamilton stated.

“Why would I make it up?” Madison inquired.

“I don’t know. It just seems, you know, a bit silly, to expect the prince to still be alive.” Hamilton said.

“Why?” Madison replied defensively. “So what if I still think that the prince is alive? I know that the chances are slim, but he could be out there. Everyday, I work towards being good enough to rescue him.” By the time that Madison was done saying this, he had been speaking rather loud and forcefully. When he noticed that, he sat down in a chair and seemed to shrink back into himself. “I’m sorry for lashing out.”

“That’s fine, Madison,” Hamilton said, and took a seat as well. “Let’s all just get back to work.” He picked up his quill and started to write.

As soon as everyone had settled back into a writing mindset, Madison began to think over what had just conspired. Did he say something wrong? He had been quite mean to Hamilton during that conversation. Did Hamilton hate him now? Did they all hate him? He thought back to what he had felt earlier, about being the fifth wheel. Did his fellow cadets think of him the same way? He was the least skilled of their bunch, and he wasn’t as tight with the other four as they were with each other. Were they all better off without him?

He recognized the familiar spiral that he was falling into, but he didn’t try to stop it. His thoughts fell deeper and deeper, and every moment brought in different destructive ideas, like waves coming into shore. He could feel his body shuddering, the anxiety that coursed through his veins turning his blood to ice, and then fire. His breathing started coming in short bursts, and he could feel the tight constricting pain in his chest that meant that a coughing fit would be coming on. He would have gotten out of his chair to get some fresh air, if he still had the ability to stand up. He wanted to scream, to cry, to get any kind of release, but the endless hole of his thought only spiraled deeper until it seemed as though there was no escape.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for this being an angsty chapter, but the place where I ended was the only really good ending point that I could find. Anyway, thanks for reading, and hopefully the next chapter will hurt less.


End file.
